APRIL 14, 1936

Monday after Easter Sunday in the White House is always a busy day. This year we did
not have the usual anxiety of whether it would rain or not, for it dawned a bright
and sunny day. The ground is wet but the sky is blue and though we have had a few
cloudy moments, on the whole this has been a pleasant day. It isn't as warm as one
might wish but the children have been tearing up and down our two little hills and
apparently the exercise has kept them all from any possible chill!

I went out about a quarter to ten to listen to the boys' band and to see the platform
which had been built for the clown and the magician who perform later in the morning
and again in the afternoon. The Marine Band plays from three o'clock on, but there
are volunteer school bands in the morning. At twelve o'clock I went down to the stand to receive a basket of flowers from the children of the Good Samaritan Home, and by that time there was really a great crowd. I am always afraid some of
the smaller children will get frightened because the crowd surges towards me, and
it must seem to them as though the bigger people were completely shutting out their
light and air, but nothing has ever really gone wrong. The girl and boy scouts keep
lost children happy in one corner until they are restored to their parents and all
over the grounds are helpers—Camp Fire Girls, Y.W.C.A. assistants, Girl and Boy Scouts
who keep the children entertained, avoiding any unnecessary accidents by being helpful
to both the children and their parents.

The President went out on the South Portico at two o'clock and said a word of greeting to the crowd,
and a little later I shall go down once more. The Marine Band I can see from my window
is just arriving to start on their afternoon program.

At three-thirty the four Girl Scouts arrived at the White House to look for hazards
in the home which they will tell me about when we talk over the radio at four o'clock.

Source Note:
Transcription created from a photocopy of a draft version of a My Day column instance
archived at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library.
My Day column draft dated April 13, 1936, FDR Library, Hyde Park, NY
TMsd, 13 April 1936, AERP, FDRL